# Saying "Merry Christmas" in the UK **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350 "2020-12-18T18:26:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/21 "2020-12-19T20:35:57Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > That’s someone with knowledge of your perfectly reasonable preference and their purposeful intent to go against it when there is no need to do so. Intent is everything. While I wouldn’t take offense at an innocent mistake, I’m not really going to begrudge someone who isn’t Christian who gets tired of being wished Happy Christmas for the last 5 weeks of the year. I get tired of it too, however I’m willing to let it roll off my back. Depending on how I’m feeling that day I may or may not correct them. But if someone considers it rude I can understand it. If they snap back, so be it. Lack of ill intent only goes so far. I’m sure there are plenty of Christians in the US who would be offended at being wished Happy Hanukkah. It doesn’t happen often so it hasn’t become an annual complaint. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/22 "2020-12-20T04:00:50Z")
In emails I’ve recently said “have a good Christmas!” I don’t think most non-Christians I know would object because it’s about the Christmas holidays, which is when we won’t be in contact due to bank holidays and general shutdowns. It’s meant to be more “have a good time off with multiple bank holidays and usually the tradition of contacting your family!” Though I suppose if the person I was responding to had an obviously non-Christian name I might think twice. I’ll ask around - I don’t have the impression that being wished Merry Christmas is offensive to most non-Christians I know, but I could be wrong. I suspect it depends on the context. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/23 "2020-12-21T06:56:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Around here (upstate NY USA in case you don’t know to click on my avatar) most people simply assume that everybody’s Christian and the standard greeting is Merry Christmas, Around here (melb.aus), most people simply assume that everybody is Australian and ‘Merry Christmas’ is standard if you are saying something. But we don’t do ‘have a nice day’ or other greetings as much as Europeans or Americans, so perhaps it’s less often. (It’s not because they are specifically Christian: Australians also don’t object to having the days of the week named after Norse gods) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/24 "2020-12-21T09:18:42Z")
It’s so uncontroversial that we have ‘Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ in our company email signatures. As others have said, Christmas has as much resonance as a winter/pagan/ancient times festival as it does a Christian one for most folks. EVERYTHING shuts on Christmas day - transport, shops, restaurants, so even non-Christians have to take the day off. Pubs often open for lunch but even then, they’ll only be serving Christmas dinner, so there’s really no escape from it. Most non-Christians I know still put up a tree and have Christmas dinner. My hindu colleague even took her parents to midnight mass at the cathedral last year, out of sheer curiosity and to get into the Christmas spirit (they got bored and left half way through). I flipflop between ‘Merry’ and ‘Happy’. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/25 "2020-12-21T11:55:32Z")
Another UK-er…and it’s always “merry Christmas” for me. Like the majority over here, it’s not an issue if you want to use “merry” or “happy” but it’s virtually unheard of to wish anyone “happy holidays”. Even our US members of staff don’t do it! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/26 "2020-12-21T12:37:14Z")
And FWIW, every presenter’s sign-off on one regular TV programme’s Christmas special last night was “Merry Christmas”, which is also the formulation in over half of the Christmas cards I’ve received (most of the rest are “Season’s Greetings” or some general reference to “the festive season” or similar). ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/27 "2020-12-21T13:07:49Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > In fact there is a tendancy to eye other religions and their festivals with regard to partying, feasting and gift exchanging opportunities. Of course it can be dressed up as an gesture towards inclusivity, but lining up a series excuses for a day off work is tempting. Lets see…Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Eid, Hanukka… lots of possibilities. Last year we celebrated Diwali in our office with decorations and takeaway curry. This year even the Christmas party was on Zoom. ☹ But yes, everyone gets wished a happy or merry Christmas and only Americans say happy holidays. When we had a colleague from India visiting, he went off to Leicester to celebrate Eid, despite being a Hindu, so it looks like inclusivity is pretty popular there as well. At my tiny (officially CoE sponsored) primary school, the many children of the Jehovah’s Witness family had the last week or two off school before Christmas (and the rest of us would have been jealous if we hadn’t been so sorry for them not getting any presents), but the two Hindu kids joined in with the nativity play and other events. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/28 "2020-12-21T16:10:49Z")
I live and work in NYC and I hear “Merry Christmas” way more than I hear “Happy Holidays” although I don’t know that it means people assume I’m Christian - I know an awful lot of non-Christians who celebrate Christmas ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/29 "2020-12-21T17:33:54Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > (It’s not because they are specifically Christian: Australians also don’t object to having the days of the week named after Norse gods) They may not be specifically Christian, but that isn’t evidence of it. I haven’t run into even the people here throwing fits about ‘happy holidays’ and going on about how they think this is or should be a ‘Christian Nation’ complaining about the names of the days of the week. Of course, I don’t know whether they’ve got any idea of the origin of the weekday names; but I don’t know how many Australians do, either. > [@doreen](#): > > I live and work in NYC and I hear “Merry Christmas” way more than I hear “Happy Holidays” although I don’t know that it means people assume I’m Christian - I know an awful lot of non-Christians who celebrate Christma Yup. Like I said: ubiquitous and inescapable. – it’s my impression, which might be wrong, that the UK has a lot fewer of the people going around trying to get beliefs of certain Christian sects enshrined into law (and in some cases succeeding). If that’s true, then I suspect that might be part of the reason if it’s also true that almost nobody in the UK feels anywhere between mildly annoyed and threatened by the entire country making a big deal of and shutting down for a Christian holiday, but not for any others. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/30 "2020-12-21T17:57:25Z")
i 'spect it’s to avoid repetition … Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/31 "2020-12-21T20:22:54Z")
OP here. Thanks for the replies. No question then that this is a UK thing (and in several other UK-spawned nations as well). FTR, there may have been one or two "Happy Christmas"es thrown in there, but “Merry Christmas” predominated. And when the team lead sent us work-related emails to check in before she left the office for a couple of weeks, she signed off on them with “Merry Christmas.” And as luck would have it, I just got a nice note from a company in Ohio I do some work with. The subject line was…“Happy holidays” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/32 "2020-12-21T20:22:55Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > trying to get beliefs of certain Christian sects enshrined into law (and in some cases succeeding) ?? In the UK, they already succeeded: from around the time of Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I. There was a _lot_ of push back which continued for centuries: it’s one of the reasons the American constitution is the way it is, rather than like the UK, where there are religious representatives in the House of Lords. Of course, in the UK, as historically in the USA, the ‘Christian sects’ were opposed to Christmas Holy Days and Christmas celebrations, so “Merry Christmas” is the civil influence in the Established Church, not the Church influence in the establishment. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/33 "2020-12-22T08:49:22Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > – it’s my impression, which might be wrong, that the UK has a lot fewer of the people going around trying to get beliefs of certain Christian sects enshrined into law (and in some cases succeeding). If that’s true, then I suspect that might be part of the reason if it’s also true that almost nobody in the UK feels anywhere between mildly annoyed and threatened by the entire country making a big deal of and shutting down for a Christian holiday, but not for any others We’re just not very religious (60% of the UK describe themselves as ‘not religious’ and regular church attendance hovers at around 5% of the population). But we like Christmas, a lot. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/34 "2020-12-22T09:00:25Z")
When did ‘Happy Holidays’ become the norm in the US? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/35 "2020-12-22T09:10:01Z")
It didn’t. Possibly ‘Happy Holidays’ is as common as ‘Merry Christmas’ now, but I kind of doubt that. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/36 "2020-12-22T16:56:16Z")
> [@eburacum\_45](#): > > When did ‘Happy Holidays’ become the norm in the US? It’s not “the norm” in the sense of “most common”, but it’s been “normal” in the sense of ‘a common alternative’ for at least most of the past hundred years. Making a fuss about it is what’s new; that’s pretty much a 21st century thing. [The War of Words behind ‘Happy Holidays’ | HISTORY](https://www.history.com/news/the-war-of-words-behind-happy-holidays) . ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350/37 "2020-12-23T18:55:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The war against Christmas has been limited to the US so far. Christmas seems to be holding it’s own in this fight Actually, the original kerfluffle over the proper Yuletide greeting was in Victorian Britain. Found this on Cracked dot com, of all places: [When Victorians Frowned On 'Merry Christmas': The Original 'War On Christmas' | Cracked.com](https://www.cracked.com/article_29177_when-victorians-frowned-merry-christmas-original-war-christmas.html) For those who don’t want to click on the link, the story is that religious Victorians tried to promote _Happy Christmas_ over _Merry Christmas_, as “merry”, to them, connoted an unseemly raucousness - the word implied cruisin’, boozin’, perhaps even a bit of floozin’. (Think of Fezziwig’s Christmas ball from _A Christmas Carol_, for example.) “Happy” was a sober, restrained, family-friendly emotion. In 1916, the Chicago Tribune tried to introduce “[Cheery Christmas](https://www.reddit.com/r/100yearsago/comments/5j1whs/dec_18_1916_editorial_cartoon_its_cheery/)”, which went nowhere. Dickens’ _A Christmas Carol_, and the first commercially produced Christmas card (which read “Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year”) pretty much established “Merry” as the default greeting, but clearly “Happy Christmas” has held on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-merry-christmas-in-the-uk/928350.md?page=1)